Living National Treasure Serizawa Keisuke (1895–1984) used stencil-dyeing techniques to create irresistible works of art that range from screens and kimonos to book covers and magazine designs. The combination of Serizawa’s originality and vitality with the natural beauty of his materials—cotton, silk, hemp, and other fibers decorated with the brilliant yet warm hues of natural dyes—will make this show an unmissable visual feast.View an image gallery from the exhibitionView of a checklist of the exhibition
Organized in collaboration with Tohoku Fukushi University Serizawa Keisuke Art and Craft Museum.

A 134-page, fully illustrated catalogue edited by Joe Earle and published by Yale University Press provides the historical, cultural, and ideological context for Serizawa’s unique oeuvre in six essays written by leading Japanese and American scholars of 20th-century Japanese art and literature.Purchase online

Docent-led walk-in tours are conducted Tuesday-Sunday at 12:30 pm with additional tours on Saturday & Sunday at 2 pm (available only in October). Japanese language tours are conducted Friday nights at 6 pm by appointment only. Tours are free with admission and approximately 30 minutes in duration.
Click here for Serizawa Materials for Educators

Group tours can be arranged by calling (212) 715-1224.

Private Tours for Adult Groups, up to a maximum of 20 people, may be scheduled in advance through the Japan Society Gallery. The tour fee is $90 and does not include admission, which is suggested at $7 per person. For Japan Society members, the reduced tour fee is $75, with complimentary admission. For senior citizen groups and college/university groups, the reduced tour fee is $55, plus $5.00 admission per person.

This exhibition is supported by the E. Rhodes & Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, Chris Wachenheim, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Coby Foundation, Ltd., Edward and Anne Studzinski, The Japan Foundation, The Blakemore Foundation, Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund, and an anonymous foundation.

Media sponsorship is provided by

Transportation assistance is provided by

Exhibitions at Japan Society are also made possible in part by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund and the Friends of the Gallery. Installations at Japan Society Gallery are supported by a generous gift from Henry Cornell.

Japan Society also wishes to thank The W.L.S. Spencer Foundation for its catalogue support.